Wii 2 announcement in June

File this one under 'bloody obvious if you think about'. Nintendo's next Wii will be capable of HD output, it has been claimed with such a high level of likelihood, it'll only be wrong if the console pioneer's managers have gone seriously round the twist.

The 'claim' comes from GameInformer, which cites multiple sources, though not one of them is able to say anything else about the console.

Indeed, the report asks more questions than it answers. Example: the 'Wii '2 - let's call it that for now - does HD graphics, but will they be better or inferior to the output from the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360? The sources don't know.

Will it use motion control? They don't know.

Backward compatibility? Online gaming provision? When will it be out? Don't ask the sources, they - you've guessed it - don't know.

Nintendo is hoped to make some kind of announcement, or possibly offer a technology preview, at next June's E3, a games industry show. GameInformer's sources say that's for definite... er... unless Nintendo does it sooner.

Separately, it was recently claimed the current Wii will get a price cut on 15 May.

The only certainty is that Wii sales, while declining, are still strong. But as the console will turn five years old this coming winter, it's high time Nintendo began talking up it's successor. ®